Colorado Rockies: The 3 nastiest pitches we’ve seen from Justin Lawrence

Lawrence made his MLB debut at Chase Field, which has seen plenty of Rockies firsts through the years. That includes the first-ever at-bat and home run from now-All-Star shortstop Trevor Story.

Speaking of firsts, let’s take a look at the first-ever called strike from Lawrence. After walking Asdrubal Cabrera on four pitches, Pavin Smith stepped into the batter’s box against Lawrence, who delivered his first MLB strike.

What you just saw was a 99.8 mph sinker that stayed right at the bottom of the strike zone. Pavin would single to right on the next pitch, but that would be the last baserunner Lawrence would allow during his first-ever inning on the mound for the Rockies.

After Pavin’s single and getting Wyatt Mathisen to fly out to center for the first out of the inning, Eduardo Escobar stepped to the plate. It would take just three pitches for Lawrence to dismiss Escobar, opening with an 80.6 mph slider, followed by a 100.2 mph sinker and this pitch, a 101.2 mph sinker to Escobar that Lawrence would tell reporters the next day was he believed to be the fastest pitch he has ever thrown.

The look that Escobar has on his face as he walks away from the plate says it all.

So what comes next for Justin Lawrence? After all, he’s drawing plenty of attention right now and he’s thrown just 35 pitches for the Rockies.

Lawrence has already dealt with plenty of attention before making the big league roster, including the effects of a suspension that cost him the 2020 season. However, as Rockies assistant general manager for player development and farm director Zach Wilson told us in an exclusive interview, “When you’re throwing from below three quarters, sometimes sidearm, at 99 with sink, and then you mix in a sweeping slider that sweeps across the plate, it makes for a very uncomfortable at-bat, particularly for a right-handed hitter.”

At present, Lawrence is an unknown to opposing hitters, although it’s safe to say that the San Francisco Giants (who open a three-game series at Coors Field on Monday night) and the teams that follow on Colorado’s schedule will have plenty of video to watch to try to prepare for what he brings to the mound.

Control has been a question mark for the former 12th-round pick as he advanced to the higher levels of the minors in 2019 (his only season he has pitched above Double-A prior to making his MLB debut). He walked nine in 10.1 innings of work at Triple-A Albuquerque to start the season, causing him to slide back to Double-A Hartford, where he walked 20 in 26.2 innings. His overall walks per nine innings in 2019 stood at 7.05, a sharp increase from the 4.47 he saw at Class A Lancaster in 2018.

If Lawrence can harness his pitches (as he has shown he can do in his first two outings, walking just the first batter he ever faced), he can be a very effective weapon for the Rockies. Time will certainly tell but, so far, the Justin Lawrence Experience has been a success for the Rockies and an eye-opener for fans.